Moving to Türkiye: Household Goods and Documents

People who move their home to Türkiye can bring household goods under a customs exemption. The rules are in the Customs Exemption Communiqué and in the Ministry of Trade's customs guidance.

The application

The person, their spouse or someone authorised to represent them under the Customs Law applies to the competent customs office with the required documents. For a permanent return, the documents include a residence transfer certificate issued by the Turkish mission abroad, confirming that the place of residence has been moved. The family unit is determined from the information in the civil registry extract, and periods spent outside or inside Türkiye are established from the electronic entry and exit records.

For foreign nationals, a document containing the family members' civil registry details is obtained from a Turkish mission or from their own country's representation in Türkiye; if that cannot be obtained under foreign law, the person's declaration is accepted. Where there are several heirs, a notarised waiver agreement is needed for the other heirs in Türkiye. Dual citizens can use this exemption.

Business relocation and translations

Anyone moving a business to Türkiye submits, among other documents, a document from the foreign authorities showing that the economic activity has ended. For business relocation, the communiqué asks for documents obtained abroad whose translations have been approved by Turkish missions.

The household goods lists themselves do not mention an apostille or a translation. Ask the customs office which documents it wants translated.

We translate foreign documents into Turkish in Ankara through translators sworn before a Turkish notary. The customs office decides on the exemption.